Happy Holidays

The Krause family has survived another holiday season! Christmas was wonderful with family and friends all around. My sister Genie is still in town and will be leaving tomorrow. She took me to chemo today, which began my 5th round.

It was nice having the week off during Christmas, but I am hopeful for this next round. I will meet with Dr. Richards on Thursday about my next steps. If the protein spike has decreased enough, I will go to Duke for the stem-cell harvesting. This process will only take 3-4 days. Then there will be a month back home before I have to return for the actual transplant. Dr. Long at Duke will decide whether or not I need chemo during that span.

The treatments have zapped my energy, but they are doing their job! I have had some swelling in my legs but that is manageable. I started seeing a physical therapist in Botetourt and that has helped my hip tremendously…this is a huge blessing! However, my hands are still hurting. Pray for them.

We feel like we are entering the second phase of this process and are hopeful for the future! God has remained faithful and we are thankful!

Another Tuesday Come and Gone...

Well, we began the 3rd cycle of chemo infusions today, Tuesday afternoon. Charlie and I met with Dr. Richards and the only thing concerning him was that my hemoglobin was lower than he liked. The chemo is bringing the protien spike down which is what we need to happen in order to harvest my stem cells at Duke. The negative is that the chemo is affecting my hemoglobin which explains why I am so tried!! I have the week off from the "high powered"oral chemo. I have to re-qualify for another round of it which I should begin on Sunday night.

My port site was not healing to satisfy all, so I had to have stiches put in it today by radiology intervention techs. I am to have it checked on Friday after Thanksgiving. But it can be used for this Friday's infusion and next Tuesday's infusion. YEAH!! Please pray that it will heal correctly and without any infection!
Thank you ALL for your continued support and prayers.

Charlie and I and all our family hope you will have a VERY BLESSED THANKSGIVING!!

My Week Off!

It's Monday and I am looking forward to my week off of chemo treatments. Since my last post I have started an oral chemo schedule in addition to the intraveneous sessions. I wasn't sure what to expect, and had heard of some awful complications that can result from these pills, but have pleasantly experienced none of them! The only effect so far is I am very tired. I went to the doctor today because my porticath was dislodging. They fixed the problem and hopefully it will heal in the next couple of days.

We had a great weekend celebrating our niece's and nephew's birthdays. All the family came over on Saturday and my sister provided lunch for everyone. Natalie and Jordan were in from Elkton and spent the whole weekend with us!

My oncologist thinks it will be the first of 2010 before I go to Duke for the stem cell harvesting. That should give me 4-5 rounds of chemo beforehand. It is a long road, but promising! We are thankful for all of you who pray for our family. It is in these times that we realize what matters the most!

A Reason to Celebrate

We had a whirlwind weekend... our Grandson turned one today. We celebrated with a birthday bash at our home. To say that it was fun is an understatement. Grandpa grilled hot dogs and hamburgers and Natalie made an Elmo cake. Pictures speak louder than words so I will let these pictures do the talking.


Benjamin in the leaves before the party.


Grandpa cooking up some hotdogs


Natalie's beautiful Elmo cake!


Benjamin opening preseents for the 1st time.


Ben enjoyed reading books with his Aunt Gigi.


Aunt Natalie's cake was divine!

I did receive a call from my doctor informing me that I would be starting on an oral form of a chemo treatment this weekend. Seems my break is up. Tuesday starts my second round of chemo treatments. Thank you again for your continued prayers and support!

One Cycle Down!!

I feel so blessed to have so much family and friends who are praying for me and taking care of me. Thank you for your notes of encouragement, the food, the books, the calls but most of all your prayers. I finished my fourth chemo treatment today and as of Friday evening at 7:15 I'm feeling OK, no nausea so what a prise! Please continue to pray that my hip will strengthen so that I will be able to walk without pain and a limp very soon. I thought today was going to be a long 3 hour treatment but was was pleasantly surprised that it was a short one. Next week we have off and that will complete my first cycle of treatment. Just 5 cycles to go (15 weeks) We think that sometime during the next 15 weeks the Dr.'s will send me back to Duke to begin harvesting my stem cells, we will be sure to let everyone know when that happens. Charlie has been a saint and has a lot a patience in taking care of me. The children are quite attentive about checking in on Mom and making sure everything is going OK (even Ben) Thanks again for your love, support and prayers. To God be the Glory! Fran and all the Krauses

I'm Home!

I was scheduled for my chemo on Friday beforehand, so the doctor let me receive that at Lewis Gale, since I was there anyway. They began that treatment late in the afternoon and it lasted for 4 hours. This sent my hemoglobin even lower, therefore I needed 2 blood transfusions. This took most of the evening and even part of the wee morning hours. Needless to say...I didn't get to come home Friday night.

Early Saturday, after very little sleep, I asked what the chances were for me going home today. They were not sure for most of the morning, but by mid-afternoon they decided I could leave. Hallelujah! I came home and had dinner with my family and am looking forward to a good night's rest in my own bed!

Again, thank you for your prayers, love and support!

Get well soon!

Granna, I figured out how to post a blog message and wanted to tell you that I love you and can't wait to see you soon. I love you- Ben! Your favoritest grandson!

Praise the Lord!

Two days ago I had concrete put in my pelvis to seal up a crack that had formed because of the Multiple Myeloma. The procedure lasted all morning and I was on my way home by that evening. Yesterday morning I woke up with excruciating pain in my hip from the procedure. Charlie took me back to Lewis Gale to see if they could help me. They immediately admitted me for two to three days to help manage my pain. They kept me pretty well medicated the whole day which helped tremendously because of the amount of pain I was in. The doctors said the pain was due to inflammation around my hip due to the already aggravated area where they put the concrete.

I woke up this morning, Friday, at around 4:30 and was pain-free enough to make it to the bathroom by myself. The last time I got a dose of medication was this morning at 2am. I am feeling so much better today which is a huge praise because I thought the pain would be something I would have cope with for some time. We are waiting to hear back from the doctors to see what their plan is for the rest of this day. I am scheduled to get a round of chemo some time today.

We will keep you updated as we find out more information. You can become a follower of the blog to get email updates when we post new news!

Thank you all for your continued prayers and thoughts. I am very upbeat this morning and am thankful for God's strength.

Step by Step

Life has been a whirlwind since we found out the news. On Sept. 17th I had a portacath inserted. A friend of mine told me this would be my best friend because they use if for everything during treatment. I have already seen this to be the case.
On Sept. 24th Charlie and I traveled to Duke to meet the physicians and get a tour of the facilities. The staff was efficient and friendly; we could not have been more pleased. They even gave us a tape of our conversations so we could reference them later. We grabbed lunch at TGIFridays before heading home.
I had been having an intense pain in my hip for over a week. When Dr. Richards called to let me know my chemo would begin the following Tuesday, he also scheduled an MRI to see what the problem was with my hip. I went for the MRI on Sept. 30th.
The next morning I found out I had a crack in my pelvis, which is a complication of the Multiple Myeloma. Dr. Richards referred me to Dr. Lewis, a radiologist, who would inject cement into the site to strengthen my pelvis. We scheduled a consultation with him on Oct. 2nd. We left home for the carpal tunnel surgery at 10:45 a.m. and were back by 3:30 p.m. resting comfortably. My hands were numb, but the pain was gone.
The next day Dr. Lewis explained the procedure to heal my pelvis. The MRI showed two abnormal places that needed cementing. We scheduled this for the following week. The weekend was restful. Robert returned home from Africa and we visited with some out-of-town friends.
Tues. Oct. 6th was a big day. At 10 a.m. I had the stitches taken out of my hands. The doctor said everything looked great and the numbness was normal. At 10:45 a.m. Charlie and I arrived at Blue Ridge Cancer Care next to Lewis Gale for my first chemotherapy session. The treatment only lasted 30 minutes, but we were there for 3 hours signing papers and meeting with the doctor. That night I didn’t experience any side effects. Friday will be a longer session, though, and probably more intense.

From the Beginning

During the summer of 2009 my hands were in such pain that something needed to be done. I called Roanoke Orthopedic and found out I needed a referral to see Dr. Hagan who had operated on Charlie for his carpal tunnel several years earlier. I made an appointment in early August with Dr. Ella Youngblood for a physical and consultation regarding my hands. Ella made the referral for Dr. Hagan and the process began for that procedure. Following the blood work, we believe Ella suspected something regarding my anemia and requested a bone scan and other tests. Following these tests, I was referred to Dr. Paul Richards at Blue Ridge Cancer Care, who we had known from First Baptist. He is a hematologist and oncologist. I had a great first visit and hindsight tells me that he, along with Dr. Youngblood, suspected Multiple Myeloma. During the first visit he extracted bone marrow for a biopsy test, and requested a lot more blood work. Finally, on Sept. 15 we had our follow-up visit with Dr. Richards who told us the findings from the blood tests. Before this visit Charlie and I had an uneasy feeling about the results so I asked Dr. Nancy Dye, a good friend, to go with us and help interpret what Dr. Richards told us.
After all the tests, it was confirmed that I have Multiple Myeloma. Dr. Richards explained to me that this type of cancer is not curable, but treatable. He spent some time fleshing out this disease, but it was surreal in that moment. The next evening Nancy Dye came to my home and graciously explained all the physical, mental and emotional implications of Multiple Myeloma to me and my family. It was good for everyone to get their questions answered and learn what to expect with the illness.
My treatments will consist of chemotherapy twice a week for two weeks, and then a week off. I will repeat this process 6 times for a total of 18 weeks. At some point during these 18 weeks (determined by the Dr.s) I will go to Duke to have my stem cells harvested. This may take 2-3 days. Following this I return to Roanoke and complete my chemotherapy. Following the initial 18 weeks I then go on oral chemo for an undetermined amount of time until my cancer cells are destroyed. After this I return to Duke for my stem cell transplant which takes 2-4 weeks.